The Hope of Restoration

June 22, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹⁸“If there is in the skin of one’s body a boil and it heals, ¹⁹and in the place of the boil there comes a white swelling or a reddish-white spot, then it shall be shown to the priest. ²⁰And the priest shall look, and if it appears deeper than the skin and its hair has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a case of leprous disease that has broken out in the boil. ²¹But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair in it and it is not deeper than the skin, but has faded, then the priest shall shut him up seven days. ²²And if it spreads in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a disease. ²³But if the spot remains in one place and does not spread, it is the scar of the boil, and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

²⁴“Or, when the body has a burn on its skin and the raw flesh of the burn becomes a spot, reddish-white or white, ²⁵the priest shall examine it, and if the hair in the spot has turned white and it appears deeper than the skin, then it is a leprous disease. It has broken out in the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a case of leprous disease. ²⁶But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair in the spot and it is no deeper than the skin, but has faded, the priest shall shut him up seven days, ²⁷and the priest shall examine him the seventh day. If it is spreading in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a case of leprous disease. ²⁸But if the spot remains in one place and does not spread in the skin, but has faded, it is a swelling from the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him clean, for it is the scar of the burn.

²⁹“When a man or woman has a disease on the head or the beard, ³⁰the priest shall examine the disease. And if it appears deeper than the skin, and the hair in it is yellow and thin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is an itch, a leprous disease of the head or the beard. ³¹And if the priest examines the itching disease and it appears no deeper than the skin and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall shut up the person with the itching disease for seven days, ³²and on the seventh day the priest shall examine the disease. If the itch has not spread, and there is in it no yellow hair, and the itch appears to be no deeper than the skin, ³³then he shall shave himself, but the itch he shall not shave; and the priest shall shut up the person with the itching disease for another seven days. ³⁴And on the seventh day the priest shall examine the itch, and if the itch has not spread in the skin and it appears to be no deeper than the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. And he shall wash his clothes and be clean. ³⁵But if the itch spreads in the skin after his cleansing, ³⁶then the priest shall examine him, and if the itch has spread in the skin, the priest need not seek for the yellow hair; he is unclean. ³⁷But if in his eyes the itch is unchanged and black hair has grown in it, the itch is healed and he is clean, and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

³⁸“When a man or a woman has spots on the skin of the body, white spots, ³⁹the priest shall look, and if the spots on the skin of the body are of a dull white, it is leukoderma that has broken out in the skin; he is clean.” – Leviticus 13:18-39 ESV

The degree of specificity in these verses is somewhat staggering. Why does God go into such great detail when it comes to these various skin pathologies? What is His reasoning behind ordering the priests to closely examine each lesion, boil, and spot, carefully determining the color and texture of the hair and surrounding skin?

In attempting to answer these questions, it’s important to note that the priests were not physicians, and their examinations were not intended to determine a treatment plan that would restore physical health. They wrote no prescriptions and provided no expert medical advice. Yet, they were concerned with restoring the “patient’s” wholeness but their primary focus was that of holiness and purity.

God’s seeming obsession with dermatological disorders may appear somewhat heavyhanded. After all, there is no mention of internal diseases such as heart conditions, tumors, or cancer. He doesn’t deal with psychological or physiological disorders either. His emphasis is on the outward manifestations of diseases that affect the skin. Because of the visible nature of these conditions, they would have been readily apparent to others. And the overall focus of these verses appears to be on what might be best referred to as infectious skin diseases.

Each of the ailments described in these verses was to be closely examined in order to determine if it had the potential to spread and infect others. Its potential for contagion was to be a key factor in the priest’s diagnosis.

“If the priest examines it and finds it to be more than skin-deep, and if the hair in the affected area has turned white, the priest must pronounce the person ceremonially unclean. The boil has become a serious skin disease.” – Leviticus 13:20 NLT

Based on the priest’s examination and diagnosis, more serious diseases were to require isolation and quarantine. This does not necessarily mean that the disease itself was infectious, but that the individual with the malady was to be considered temporarily unclean. This forced isolation from the rest of the community was to prevent anyone else from becoming ceremonially impure by coming into contact with the “patient.”

The primary concern of the priest was to determine the patient’s potential for spreading uncleanness. The purity of the congregation was to be his highest priority so that there would be no break in their fellowship with God. His ongoing presence was tied to their holiness and their holiness was directly linked to their purity.

The presence of visible and abnormal skin conditions among the populous was to alert the spiritual leadership of Israel to implement immediate protocols to protect and preserve the purity of the congregation. And no lesion, boil, or rash was to be overlooked. As soon as the malady appeared, the priests were to get involved and make the proper diagnosis so that the integrity or wholeness of God’s people might be preserved.

When reading these verses, it is important to recognize that the presence of diseases is meant to be seen as a symptom of mankind’s alienation from God. Because of Adam and Eve’s act of rebellion in the garden, sin entered God’s creation and brought with it decay, disease, and, ultimately, death. From that moment to now, the sinless perfection of God’s creation had been marred by abnormalities of all kinds. Pain and suffering are now a normal and natural part of human life. And the skin disorders mentioned in these verses are intended to illustrate the pervasive and unavoidable reality of sin’s influence over God’s creative order.

The presence of disease does not void or invalidate the beauty of God’s creation. It simply illustrates the fallen nature of the world and its need for restoration and redemption. The Israelites had been set apart by God and commanded to live in a manner that illustrated their distinct status as His chosen people. Yet, they had to do so in the midst of a fallen and sin-saturated world. That’s why God gave Him his law, to guard and guide their actions as they attempted to navigate life in a far-from-friendly world. They would be constantly exposed to temptation, the threat of illness, the risk of compromise, and the very real possibility of falling away from God. Their journey from Egypt to Canaan had already been marked by suffering and their own susceptibility to sin and rebellion. They had displayed their own potential for disobedience when they worshiped the golden calf. They had experienced thirst and hunger and allowed those less-than-pleasant physical conditions to turn their hearts against God.

Now, God was letting them know that physical ailments would be a permanent part of their faith journey. They were not immune from disease, decay, and death. But they were not to allow these things to separate them from their God. When skin disorders showed up, and they would, the people of Israel were to recognize them as reminders of their fallen state. They were sin-prone people living in a sin-darkened land. But God provided a way of restoration. He did not completely cast out the infected individual and declare them to be persona non grata. But He did expect their malady to be recognized and dealt with appropriately.

The overall emphasis of these verses is purity and restoration. Sickness is a reminder of sin’s presence and its debilitating influence over God’s creation. But its impact is limited and far from final. Diseases can produce discomfort and even death, but they cannot sever the relationship between God and His people. The apostle Paul provides us with a powerful word of encouragement concerning the limited liability of sin’s hold on mankind.

For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.

Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die,^[j] this Scripture will be fulfilled:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”

For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. – 1 Corinthians 15:53-57 NLT

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Holy Living

June 19, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

³⁹“And if any animal which you may eat dies, whoever touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening, ⁴⁰and whoever eats of its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. And whoever carries the carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening.

⁴¹“Every swarming thing that swarms on the ground is detestable; it shall not be eaten. ⁴²Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, any swarming thing that swarms on the ground, you shall not eat, for they are detestable. ⁴³You shall not make yourselves detestable with any swarming thing that swarms, and you shall not defile yourselves with them, and become unclean through them. ⁴⁴For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground. ⁴⁵For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”

⁴⁶This is the law about beast and bird and every living creature that moves through the waters and every creature that swarms on the ground, ⁴⁷to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten.” – Leviticus 11:39-47 ESV

Chapter 11 is the beginning of an entire section of Leviticus that deals with laws concerning purification. The issue is less about physical cleanliness than it is about holiness. The state of “uncleanness” which God repeatedly addresses in this passage does not refer to the presence of dirt but instead, it is a spiritual category that carries a deep underlying message regarding the Israelite’s relationship with Yahweh.

Chapters 11-15 contain God’s decrees concerning the very real threat of spiritual impurity – a state that would make God’s chosen people unworthy to enter His presence. There were certain actions that God declared to be off-limits because doing them would render the individual defiled, dishonored, or desecrated. Eating the flesh of certain banned animals fell into that category. Touching a dead body would automatically result in defilement. And God’s desire was that His chosen people would fear any form of separation from Him so much that they would be willing to give up those things that He declared to be unclean and unacceptable.

It’s easy to read this lengthy list of banned animals and focus all the attention on them. But God’s primary concern was that His people would learn “to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten” (Leviticus 11:47 ESV). These dietary laws may sound arbitrary to the modern Western mind, but God was trying to persuade His people to think holistically about their lives. Holiness was a state of being that included all of life. God’s people were to avoid the temptation to compartmentalize their lives and reserve some areas for their own discretion. They belonged to God and He wanted them to understand that every area of their lives was to be dedicated to His use and for His glory. The apostle Paul picked up on this idea in his first letter to the believers in Corinth.

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. – 1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV

That is an apt summary of the dietary laws and a great way to view this entire section of Leviticus. God was commanding His people to avoid anything that might interfere with their covenant relationship with Him. He wanted them to desire nothing greater than their intimate and unbroken fellowship with Him. And if avoiding certain foods would help preserve their set-apart status as His chosen people, that act of self-denial should be an easy choice.

Once again, the apostle Paul provides a practical perspective on this attitude of willing sacrifice in order to pursue a right relationship with God.

…everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. – Philippians 3:8-9 NLT

Nothing was so important to Paul that he would allow it to interfere with his relationship with Christ. He was willing to give up anything if he thought it might help to improve his walk with Christ. And he applied this dedication to abstinence to every area of his life, including his relationship with other believers.

And when you sin against other believers by encouraging them to do something they believe is wrong, you are sinning against Christ. So if what I eat causes another believer to sin, I will never eat meat again as long as I live—for I don’t want to cause another believer to stumble. – 1 Corinthians 8:12-13 NLT

Were the Israelites willing to do the same thing? Was God’s ban on the consumption of certain animals worth obeying in order to maintain a right relationship with Him? Would they be okay with relinquishing their “right” to eat what they wanted so that they might enjoy unbroken fellowship with God?

God had declared certain foods to be unclean and off-limits. He provided no explanation and none should have been expected. It was enough that He had spoken and His will on the matter had been made perfectly clear. God felt no need to explain the reason behind his prohibition of certain animals. He simply declared them to be unclean and, if eaten, they would pose a threat to the Israelite’s relationship with Him. The question the Israelites had to ask themselves was whether the consumption of camel or badger meat was more important to them than maintaining their relationship with God.

When they found themselves facing hunger and possible starvation, would the temptation to eat banned meat override their desire to live in unbroken fellowship with Yahweh? These bans would become increasingly more real when they arrived in the land of Canaan and found themselves surrounded by people groups who regularly consumed many of the items that God had deemed off-limits for them. Compromise and accommodation would pose real threats to their relationship with Yahweh and that is why He provided them with a detailed list of rules concerning their ongoing holiness. They needed to know that they were to live distinctively different lives from all the other nations that occupied Canaan.

What underlies all of these prohibitions is God’s desire that His people live holy lives. He clearly commands them to refrain from making themselves detestable. In other words, each day they had to make a decision to avoid that which God declared to be unclean so that they could remain undefiled. It was a choice. They could choose to become unclean or remain pure in the eyes of God. Holiness was a choice.

“I am the Lord your God. You must consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy.” – Leviticus 11:44 NLT

Ever since the Israelites had left Egypt, they had been faced with a choice to trust Yahweh as their redeemer, provider, and guide. Each day brought new temptations to doubt His goodness and greatness. The lack of food caused them to bicker and complain. The constant scarcity of water led them to question His wisdom and compassion. But at Sinai, more than a year after they had left Egypt, God was still calling them to recognize who He was and to live their lives in a way that reflected their reverence for Him.

“I, the Lord, am the one who brought you up from the land of Egypt, that I might be your God. Therefore, you must be holy because I am holy.” – Leviticus 11:45 NLT

This is a statement of God’s sovereignty and holiness. This all-powerful and completely righteous God had chosen to redeem the people of Israel as His own possession. They belonged to Him. He had miraculously released them from their captivity in Egypt and set them apart to be a separate and distinct nation that would live according to His will. God had not chosen them because they had somehow earned His favor. They had done nothing to deserve His selection of them as His treasured possession. But now that they were His, He expected them to reflect their unique status as His one-of-a-kind people. He was holy, so they must be holy. And the dietary laws were just one more way God set them apart from all the other nations.

God had tasked Aaron and his sons with the responsibility of teaching the people “to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean” (Leviticus 10:10 ESV). These men were to help the Israelites to distinguish themselves from all the other nations on earth by seeing life from God’s point of view. Yahweh was providing them with divine insight into every area of life so that they might live in keeping with His will. And God reiterated the necessity for them to learn to distinguish the difference between the holy and the command, the clean and the unclean. He declared that these dietary laws were “to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten” (Leviticus 11:47 ESV). All so that His people might reflect His holiness by the way they lived their lives.

His will would become their will. His desires would replace their own. They would live to bring Him glory rather than seek their own good. Being God’s people required that they obey His will. And, in doing so, they would demonstrate that they were His chosen people.

“Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me. And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation.” – Exodus 19:5-6 NLT

The Bloody City and the Boiling Pot

January 5, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹In the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ²“Son of man, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. ³And utter a parable to the rebellious house and say to them, Thus says the Lord God:

“Set on the pot, set it on;
    pour in water also;
⁴put in it the pieces of meat,
    all the good pieces, the thigh and the shoulder;
    fill it with choice bones.
⁵Take the choicest one of the flock;
    pile the logs under it;
boil it well;
    seethe also its bones in it.

⁶“Therefore thus says the Lord God: Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose corrosion is in it, and whose corrosion has not gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece, without making any choice. ⁷For the blood she has shed is in her midst; she put it on the bare rock; she did not pour it out on the ground to cover it with dust. ⁸To rouse my wrath, to take vengeance, I have set on the bare rock the blood she has shed, that it may not be covered. ⁹Therefore thus says the Lord God: Woe to the bloody city! I also will make the pile great. ¹⁰Heap on the logs, kindle the fire, boil the meat well, mix in the spices, and let the bones be burned up. ¹¹Then set it empty upon the coals, that it may become hot, and its copper may burn, that its uncleanness may be melted in it, its corrosion consumed. ¹²She has wearied herself with toil; its abundant corrosion does not go out of it. Into the fire with its corrosion! ¹³On account of your unclean lewdness, because I would have cleansed you and you were not cleansed from your uncleanness, you shall not be cleansed anymore till I have satisfied my fury upon you. ¹⁴I am the Lord. I have spoken; it shall come to pass; I will do it. I will not go back; I will not spare; I will not relent; according to your ways and your deeds you will be judged, declares the Lord God.” – Ezekiel 24:1-14 ESV

The long-awaited and much-talked-about day of Judah’s judgment has finally arrived. In the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, God informs Ezekiel that “the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day” (Ezekiel 24:2 NLT). The prophet was to take special note of this day because it marked the beginning of the end for the capital city of the southern kingdom of Judah. From his distant vantage point in Babylon, Ezekiel could only imagine the scene taking place back home. But his heart must have sunk when he heard the news that the judgment he had talked about for so long had just become a reality.

The book of 2 Kings describes what happened that day.

So on January 15, during the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon led his entire army against Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and built siege ramps against its walls. Jerusalem was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah’s reign. – 2 Kings 25:1-2 NLT

And the prophet, Jeremiah, reports that the siege would be long and end in Jerusalem’s demise as the Babylonians broke through the walls and poured out their pent-up rage on the city and its inhabitants.

Two and a half years later, on July 18 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign, a section of the city wall was broken down. – Jeremiah 39:2 NLT

God gave Ezekiel a message for his fellow exiles, whom He addressed as “the rebellious house” (Ezekiel 24:3 ESV). They may have been safely ensconced in Babylon, more than 1600 miles from Jerusalem, but they were not to consider themselves guiltless or free from responsibility. The very fact that they were living as captives in Babylon provided ample proof that they had been complicit in Judah’s rebellion and that God held them personally culpable.

God’s message to the exiles came in the form of a parable. This would not be another one of Ezekiel’s dramatic demonstrations, where he was forced to act out the details in full view of his audience. This time, all the prophet had to do was repeat the highly descriptive words of God’s simple and easy-to-understand story of Jerusalem’s fall. God uses the familiar and non-threatening activity of making stew to portray the slow and steady “cooking” of Jerusalem’s inhabitants. For two-and-a-half years, God would use King Nebuchadnezzar as His personal chef to “stir the pot” of Jerusalem.

God describes water being poured into a large bronze cauldron, into which were added choice pieces of meat and bits of bone. A fire was kindled under the pot, bringing the water and its ingredients to a rolling boil. As the fire raged, the contents of the pot slowly congealed into a stew-like consistency as the meat, bone, blood, and marrow comingled. Like all parables, this simple story portrays what, at first glance, appears to be a rather non-threatening scene. For Ezekiel’s audience, the imagery could almost be appealing, as they imagine the pleasing aroma of the slowly simmering stew. But God was using this commonplace domestic scene to convey a powerful truth and illicit a repellant response from His rebellious people.

God provides no explanation for His parable, leaving His audience to wrestle with the exact meaning of its message. But it seems clear that the bronze cauldron represents Jerusalem. The fire symbolizes God’s judgment, kindled in the form of the Babylonian army. They encamped outside the walls of the city for two-and-a-half years, battering its walls and inflicting constant pressure on the inhabitants within. And God’s choice of imagery is interesting when one considers what was actually happening inside the city during those difficult days.

…the famine in the city had become very severe, and the last of the food was entirely gone. – 2 Kings 25:3 NLT

There were few pots of boiling stew in Jerusalem in those days. The food supplies had run out long ago due to the impenetrable Babylonian blockade.

Yet, in the parable, God describes choice pieces of meat and bones being added to the pot. What do these symbolize? The meat most likely represents the inhabitants of the city. God’s “chosen” people were being thrown into the crucible of His judgment, and even the wealthiest and most powerful citizens were not spared His wrath. No one escaped. They were all thrown into the same pot and forced to suffer the same fate.

But what about the bones? What do they represent? From looking at the rest of God’s message, it would appear that these bones symbolize the lives of those who had died as a result of Judah’s rampant injustice and idolatry. Jerusalem had earned its moniker as “the bloody city.” Back in chapter 22, Ezekiel recorded God’s indictment against the city’s murderous reputation.

“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O city, who spills blood within herself (which brings on her doom), and who makes herself idols (which results in impurity), you are guilty because of the blood you shed and defiled by the idols you made. You have hastened the day of your doom; the end of your years has come.” – Ezekiel 22:3-4 NLT

They had actually murdered their own children, offering them up as blood sacrifices to their pagan gods. The list of their sins was long and unflattering.

“Slanderous men shed blood within you. Those who live within you eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains; they commit obscene acts among you. They have sexual relations with their father’s wife within you; they violate women during their menstrual period within you. One commits an abominable act with his neighbor’s wife; another obscenely defiles his daughter-in-law; another violates his sister—his father’s daughter—within you. They take bribes within you to shed blood.” – Ezekiel 22:9-12 NLT

The bones of innocent dead were mixed with the “choice meat” of Jerusalem’s citizens, creating a macabre stew where the blood of the victims comingled with that of their attackers. God was illustrating the permanent and irreparable state of Judah’s blood guilt.

The next phase of God’s parable contains a stark image of the contents of the pot being removed. By this time, the items inside would be indistinguishable from one another. It has all blended together into what God describes as “corrosion.” Not exactly an appealing image. The Hebrew word is ḥel’â, which can be translated as “scum,” “rust,” or “disease.” The contents are inedible and must be removed from the pot. So, God commands, “Take out of it piece after piece, without making any choice” (Ezekiel 24:6 ESV). Everything in the pot has been stained by blood and is poured out for all to see. Judah’s sins had been open and transparent. They hid nothing and unashamedly flaunted their rebellion in the face of God and for all the world to see. Now, God was going to display His judgment of them in a very visible and humiliating manner.

“I have placed her blood on an exposed rock so that it cannot be covered up.” – Ezekiel 24:8 NLT

With the pot now empty, God orders that it be set back on the coals “until it becomes hot and its copper glows, until its uncleanness melts within it and its rot is consumed” (Ezekiel 24:11 NLT). Jerusalem, once emptied of its corrupted contents, will be purified by God. After the Babylonians destroyed the city and took its citizens captive, it would remain a virtual wasteland for years to come. God would remove the “disease” from within its walls, then allow it to remain unoccupied until He returned a remnant of the people from captivity 70 years later.

But before that time can come, God must purge and purify Jerusalem.

“You mix uncleanness with obscene conduct.
I tried to cleanse you, but you are not clean.
You will not be cleansed from your uncleanness
until I have exhausted my anger on you.” – Ezekiel 24:13 NLT

And God makes it clear that His judgment is just, right, and fully deserved. They have earned their fate. He is judging them according to their conduct. And even the exiles in Babylon will come to realize that they too have been justly judged by God. Those who heard the parable of God from the lips of Ezekiel would not live long enough to return to the land of Judah. They would live out their lives as refugees in a foreign land, worshiping their false gods, and longing for a return to the good old days. But those days would never come because they refused to repent and be cleansed from their uncleanness.

Trust and Obey

November 29, 2022 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

⁹“And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer, and put them into a single vessel and make your bread from them. During the number of days that you lie on your side, 390 days, you shall eat it. ¹⁰And your food that you eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day; from day to day you shall eat it. ¹¹And water you shall drink by measure, the sixth part of a hin; from day to day you shall drink. ¹²And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it in their sight on human dung.” ¹³And the Lord said, “Thus shall the people of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them.” ¹⁴Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I have never defiled myself. From my youth up till now I have never eaten what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has tainted meat come into my mouth.” ¹⁵Then he said to me, “See, I assign to you cow’s dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread.” ¹⁶Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, behold, I will break the supply of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water by measure and in dismay. ¹⁷I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and look at one another in dismay, and rot away because of their punishment. – Ezekiel 4:9-17 ESV

During the first 390 days of Ezekiel’s one-man theater production, he was limited to a diet of water and bread made from a strange blend of wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and emmer. This unappealing and nutritionally insufficient food regimen was intended to illustrate the conditions the people would suffer in the actual siege of Jerusalem. It would be long in duration and result in the inhabitants of the city living off a subsistence diet made from whatever grains they could find. God restricted Ezekiel’s food intake to a meager eight ounces of bread and just over a liter of water per day. Subsisting for more than a year on this nutritionally deficient diet would have left Ezekiel emaciated and weak. And because he was commanded to act out this parabolic lesson in full display of the people, they would have witnessed the startling and discomfiting transformation in Ezekiel’s physical state.

All of this was intended to provide a vivid illustration of the horrific conditions within the walls of the city of Jerusalem when the Babylonians conducted their final siege of the city. And Moses had warned of this day centuries before.

“The siege and terrible distress of the enemy’s attack will be so severe that you will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters, whom the Lord your God has given you. The most tenderhearted man among you will have no compassion for his own brother, his beloved wife, and his surviving children. He will refuse to share with them the flesh he is devouring—the flesh of one of his own children—because he has nothing else to eat during the siege and terrible distress that your enemy will inflict on all your towns. The most tender and delicate woman among you—so delicate she would not so much as touch the ground with her foot—will be selfish toward the husband she loves and toward her own son or daughter. She will hide from them the afterbirth and the new baby she has borne, so that she herself can secretly eat them. She will have nothing else to eat during the siege and terrible distress that your enemy will inflict on all your towns.” – Deuteronomy 28:53-57 NLT

But for Ezekiel, the most startling part of God’s command was the requirement to bake his bread over a fire made with dried human dung. Of all the strange things God had asked him to do, this was the part that got Ezekiel’s attention. He was appalled at the thought of doing such a thing because he knew it would render him ceremonially impure. God had intended this unsavory action to remind the exiles of the spiritually impure state of their current conditions.

“This is how Israel will eat defiled bread in the Gentile lands to which I will banish them!” – Ezekiel 4:13 NLT

Without the sacrificial system, the people of God living in Babylon had no way of receiving atonement and cleansing for their sins. As a result, they remained in a perpetual state of spiritual impurity and separation from God. Their very presence in a foreign land living among pagans left them defiled and unworthy of coming into God’s presence.

But while Ezekiel was willing to do everything God had commanded him to do, this part was too much for him, so he appealed to God.

“O Sovereign Lord, must I be defiled by using human dung? For I have never been defiled before. From the time I was a child until now I have never eaten any animal that died of sickness or was killed by other animals. I have never eaten any meat forbidden by the law.” – Ezekiel 4:14 NLT

Even while in exile, Ezekiel had labored to remain faithful to the Mosaic Law. The thought of defiling himself in such a way was unacceptable to him. So, God graciously allowed him to use cow dung instead. Amazingly, this was the only part of God’s plan at which Ezekiel balked. He was willing to do everything God had commanded him to do – without question – even though it all appeared strange and senseless, and would probably result in his own humiliation in the eyes of the people.

The remarkable thing about this story is not the mysterious symbolism of the brick, the number of days involved, or the content of Ezekiel’s diet. It is the faithful obedience of Ezekiel in the face of a very strange request from God. None of this made sense. Ezekiel was being asked to do something patently absurd that would result in him making a fool of himself. And he knew that nothing he did or said was going to make an impact on the people. God had already told him that they would not listen or repent.

But Ezekiel obeyed anyway. He did what God asked him to do. And this will be the pattern portrayed throughout the pages of this book. Over and over again, Ezekiel will respond obediently to the commands of God. He will do what he is told to do, regardless of its difficulty or credibility. He will consistently and persistently obey – time and time again.

But what about us? How do we respond to the Word of God in our lives? Do we obey or do we rationalize, argue, debate, or simply disobey? Does it all have to make sense before we do what God is asking us to do? If it requires us to humble ourselves or get out of our comfort zone, do we balk and bail?

God is looking for men and women who will faithfully obey and do what He is calling them to do – no questions asked. It may not make sense, but it will make a difference because God is behind it all. He has a plan. He knows what is best. There is always a method to His seeming madness. We just need to trust and obey.

A Preview of Coming Attractions

November 13, 2019 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹⁸While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” ¹⁹And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples. ²⁰And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, ²¹for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” ²²Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. ²³And when Jesus came to the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, ²⁴he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. ²⁵But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. ²⁶And the report of this went through all that district. – Matthew 9:18-26 ESV

This narrative contains a story within a story. In it, Matthew records an episode in which Jesus responds to yet another third-party request for healing. The first one involved a Centurion who had asked Jesus to heal his servant. Now, a man approaches with a request that will surely test the power and authority of Jesus. His daughter is dead and he has sought out Jesus, believing that He can bring her back to life. This young girl is not suffering from a debilitating disease, a fever, or even a life-threatening illness. She is dead. And this man’s request must have left even the disciples stunned and a bit incredulous that this man would put Jesus in such an awkward predicament. After all, no one could raise the dead.

There are some discrepancies between the accounts of this event as provided by the three synoptic gospels. First of all, Mark and Luke indicate that the man was a leader in the local synagogue and even provide us with his name: Jairus. They also give the impression that the man’s daughter was not yet dead when he first approached Jesus.

Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” – Mark 5:22-23 ESV

And there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue. And falling at Jesus’ feet, he implored him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. – Luke 8:41-42 ESV

The easiest and most plausible explanation for these apparent contradictions is that Matthew simply condensed the story, revealing the fact that, by the time Jesus arrived at the man’s house, the young girl was dead. When asking Jesus to come to his house to help his daughter, who was “at the point of death” and “dying,” this father was unaware that she had already passed away. Whether he realized it or not, he was asking Jesus to do, not just the improbable, but the impossible. And there is no way for us to know at what point in the story the girl’s death took place. Was it because Jesus took the time to talk to the older woman with the issue of blood? We don’t know.

But Matthew, in his ongoing effort to support the divinity of Jesus, and knowing how the story ends, emphasizes the dramatic nature of the father’s request. This had become, not a matter of life or death, but of life from death.

Another possible explanation is that during the intervening miracle took place, when the woman who touched Jesus’ robe was healed, the father received word that his daughter had died and his request shifted from “Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live” to “my daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” In the time it took for Jesus to heal the woman with the issue of blood, the daughter’s illness had ended in death.

But Matthew interrupts the story about the synagogue ruler’s daughter in order to describe another “chance” encounter between Jesus and a person in need. From Matthew’s description, this woman suffered from some sort of hemorrhage that had plagued her for 12 years. This chronic “discharge of blood” (Matthew 9:20) would have left this woman weak and also in a perpetual state of uncleanness. According to the Mosaic law, her bleeding would have rendered her impure and anyone she touched would have contracted her impurity.

“If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her impurity, all the days of the discharge she shall continue in uncleanness. As in the days of her impurity, she shall be unclean. Every bed on which she lies, all the days of her discharge, shall be to her as the bed of her impurity. And everything on which she sits shall be unclean, as in the uncleanness of her menstrual impurity. And whoever touches these things shall be unclean…” – Leviticus 16:25-27 ESV

Yet, Matthew describes this unnamed woman as coming up behind Jesus and touching His garment. In doing so, she was passing her uncleanness onto Jesus. But her action was based not on evil intent but on faith.

…for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” – Matthew 9:21 ESV

She had touched Jesus fully expecting to be made clean. And her faith was rewarded. Jesus turned to her and said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well” (Matthew 9:2 ESV). And Matthew records that she received immediate healing from her illness. Mark adds, “the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease” (Mark 529 ESV). Her physical disability, while invisible to everyone else around her, was very familiar to her, and she knew in an instant that her body had been made whole.

Luke adds an interesting exchange between Jesus and Peter that appears to indicate the sensitivity of Jesus to all those in His surroundings. Luke indicates that the woman received her healing as soon as she touched the robe of Jesus. And Jesus, knowing that something powerful had just taken place, stated, “Who was it that touched me?” (Luke 8:45 ESV). This was not so much an admission of ignorance on the part of Jesus, as it was a desire for the woman to expose the miracle she had just received.

Peter, a bit confused by Jesus’ question, pointed out that there was no way to know who had touched Him. The crowd was large and it could have been anyone.

“Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!” – Luke 8:45 ESV

But Jesus knew that faith had been displayed, His power had been released, and a miracle had taken place. And He wanted everyone to know about it.

“Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.” – Luke 8:46 ESV

The woman, shyly and somewhat reticently, made her way forward.

And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. – Luke 8:47 ESV

It was at that very moment that Jesus verbally commended the woman for her seeming indiscretion, declaring to everyone in HIs hearing that it was her faith that had made her well. He sent her away, encouraging her to “live in peace” – in the joyful understanding that she had been fully restored to physical health and moral purity.

But just as the woman was walking away, “someone from the ruler’s house came and said, ‘Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Teacher any more’” (Luke 9:22 ESV). So, the delay did result in the daughter’s death. And sensing the disappointment in the messenger’s voice, Jesus replied, “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well” (Luke 8:50 ESV). It was most likely at this very moment that the father uttered the words recorded by Matthew: “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live” (Matthew 9:18 ESV).

Jesus, accompanied by the father as well as Peter, James, and John (Luke 8:51), made His way to the man’s house, where He found “people weeping and wailing loudly” (Mark 5:38). It was a scene of despair and sadness. Yet, Jesus spoiled the pity party, sending them away with a somewhat dismissive tone.

“Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” – Matthew 9:24 ESV

This statement brought laughter from the crowd. But Jesus, undeterred by their reaction, took the young girl by the hand and gently commanded her to rise. Once again, Jesus broke protocol. He knowingly and willingly touched a dead body, immediately rendering Himself ceremonially unclean. Yet, the result of this breach of accepted religious practice resulted in the immediate restoration of life to the one who was dead. The little girl was miraculously revived, to the shock and amazement of all who were fortunate enough to witness this incredible scene.

Both Mark and Luke record that Jesus instructed the parents to tell no one of what had just happened. But Matthew flatly states, “the report of this went through all that district” (Matthew 9:26 ESV). There was no way this incredible event was going to remain under wraps. And Jesus fully understood that the word would get out. But it was His desire that the miracles He performed not be the focus of His ministry. He had come to do far greater things than heal diseases or even raise the dead. He came to give sight to the spiritually blind, healing to those crippled by sin, and resurrection to all who were living under the curse of death.

Jesus had come to purify the unclean and revive the dead. And these two miracles, while truly amazing, were nothing compared with the miracle of new birth that would become available with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Holy Hygiene

August 27, 2019 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

⁹“When you are encamped against your enemies, then you shall keep yourself from every evil thing.

¹⁰“If any man among you becomes unclean because of a nocturnal emission, then he shall go outside the camp. He shall not come inside the camp, ¹¹but when evening comes, he shall bathe himself in water, and as the sun sets, he may come inside the camp.

¹²“You shall have a place outside the camp, and you shall go out to it. ¹³And you shall have a trowel with your tools, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig a hole with it and turn back and cover up your excrement. ¹⁴Because the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and to give up your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy, so that he may not see anything indecent among you and turn away from you.” – Deuteronomy 23:9-14 ESV

As we have discussed before, the God of Israel was anything but a distant and disinterested diety who with no personal stake in the lives of His people. He cared deeply about every aspect of their lives. The laws God gave them to regulate their lives provide ample proof that His interest in them went well beyond matters concerning worship, tithing, and offering sacrifices to Him.

In these verses, Moses provides the people of Israel with instructions regarding war. As they prepared to enter the promised land, battle was going to be an inevitable part of their future. In order to occupy the land, they were going to have to conquer its inhabitants. So, God provided Moses with instructions outlining their behavior while conducting military campaigns. Even during times of war, God expected the men of Israel to maintain a sense of decorum and to do all that was necessary to keep themselves holy or set apart before God. War would not be an excuse for wickedness. If anything, it would call for even greater care on the part of the people, to ensure that they did not defile themselves before God.

Because Israel did not maintain a standing army but operated on the basis of a mandatory militia, the men of fighting age all had to be ready at a moment’s notice to suit up for action. These excursions could last for indefinite periods of time and would require a great deal of sacrifice on the part of the nation. Men would be called away from their homes and families. Their farms, fields, and vineyards would go untended in their absence. Forced to leave their wives behind, these men would find themselves facing all kinds of temptations. And during these military campaigns, the encampments filled with men could easily become breeding grounds for lax moral behavior.

The first command concerned an avoidance of anything and everything that was considered evil. The old phrase, “boys will be boys” applies here. God knew that a crowd made up entirely of men would be like a magnet for wickedness. These men would find themselves tempted by everything from off-color humor to sexual promiscuity. In every century, gatherings of soldiers have always attracted prostitutes. And the heat of battle with its ever-present threat of death can cause any man to lose faith and compromise his moral convictions. So, Moses called the men of Israel to keep themselves pure, even during times of war.

The next two verses get very specific and graphic. They deal with ceremonial uncleanness as a result of a man having nocturnal emissions. Without their wives to satisfy their sexual needs, this was going to be a normal and natural occurrence. But it would also leave the individual in an impure state and in need of purification. God had provided very specific instructions concerning this matter.

“If a man has an emission of semen, he shall bathe his whole body in water and be unclean until the evening. And every garment and every skin on which the semen comes shall be washed with water and be unclean until the evening.” – Leviticus 15:16-17 ESV

Ceremonial impurity was unacceptable. But so was physical impurity. That’s why Moses went on to provide the men with instructions regarding the disposal of human waste. These encampments could easily be filled with tens of thousands of men, creating a significant hygiene problem. With that many men gathered in one place for a prolonged period of time, waste disposal would have to be a major priority or disease and dysentery could easily diminish the full effectiveness of the army. So, Moses instructed each soldier to carry an implement for burying his waste. And they commanded to go outside the camp in order to relieve themselves. This would help prevent the spread of disease but also encourage privacy and modesty. But even more importantly, it would maintain purity in the camp, which was essential “Because the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and to give up your enemies before you” (Deuteronomy 23:14 ESV).

Even while on bivouac, the men of Israel were to consider the constant presence of God. He was always in their midst and, therefore, they were to maintain a sense of decorum and reverence, treating their temporary living conditions with the same care and concern as they would their own homes.

Jesus made the statement, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Matthew 18:20 ESV), and this thought would be true of the men of Israel as they gathered together to fight in the name of God. Holiness in the camp was essential. Impurity could easily result in God’s departure from their midst and that would prove to be a devastating outcome. Even in the heat of battle, holiness was required.

“…therefore your camp must be holy, so that he may not see anything indecent among you and turn away from you.” – Deuteronomy 23:14 ESV

There was to be no time or place where holiness was not the Israelites’ highest priority. And while the life of the Christ-follower will also include moments of spiritual warfare, there is no excuse for compromise or moral laxness. Purity in the camp should always be our highest priority. The presence of God is real and He is with us in each and every circumstance. So, His call that we be holy as He is holy applies to every occasion in which we find ourselves, whether in the safety of our home or the heat of the battle.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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